Man, 42, accused of attempted murder in domestic argument

A court has heard how a woman had suffered domestic violence in silence for five and a half years, only going to the police after her husband had tried to strangle her. The allegation emerged in court during the husband's arraignment on charges of attempted homicide, this afternoon.

Before magistrate Josette Demicoli, police inspector Joseph Busuttil charged the 42 year old with the attempted murder of his wife, attacking her, causing her slight injury, damaging the woman's property, holding her against her will on several occasions and causing her to fear that she or her loved ones would come to harm.

The inspector explained that the woman had told him that she had been suffering her husband's violence in silence for five and a half years, only seeking police protection when the accused had tried to strangle her.

Defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, requested bail. if you see what has happened in the past five weeks since the woman left the home, the accused not only started receiving treatment but the relationship between the two had improved greatly.

Inspector Busuttil said that he absolutely agreed with the defence's suggestion of a treatment order.

He opposed the bail request, however, as there were a number of witnesses – which included family members, who were yet to testify. The accused's wife had taken a brave step in filing a report, Busuttil said. When spoken to by the police this morning, the accused's own sister had corroborated the victim's version, added the inspector.

He promised to summon all the witnesses at the earliest, in order to minimise the accused's time in preventive custody.
“While it is true that the man had cooperated, on the other hand this woman has been suffering from two weeks after getting married. It would be premature to release him on bail.”

Azzopardi argued that blood ties would affect the witnesses independently of whether he was on bail or not. This could create tensions that did not currently exist between the two families, argued the lawyer. “You shouldn't chip a cracked container.”

Superintendent Bartolo, assisting the prosecution, said that the situation was volatile. “In a second, something that has been building up for months can be set off with a simple look. The wife is terrified of him.”
The senior police officer said that he “didn't want the woman to be cowed into silence by a glance whilst on the witness stand and then be declared a hostile witness.” The legislator had also granted an option to the judiciary to order the case to continue even after the victim withdrew a report, solely in domestic violence case for this very reason, he pointed out.

Bail should be refused in order to avoid the victim being further victimised, said the superintendent. This would give the courts an opportunity to hear her version at least once.

“Let us give her a chance to testify...because undue influence on witnesses can occur at any time up till the case goes before a jury.”

The court upheld the request for the ban on publication of the names of the parties involved, primarily because this would be detrimental to the interests of the couple's children. Bail was, however denied due to the nature of the charges and the risk of the accused attempting to suborn witnesses.

The court issued a treatment order in order for the accused to receive the treatment he required.

A protection order was also issued in favour of the woman and her family.